Graphic novelist, Dan Goldman has been the Second Screen Experience Architect on AMC television’s flagship original series Breaking Bad , and The Walking Dead . His 2006 web comic, Shooting War bagged an Eisner Award nomination for Best Digital Comic. He designed the artwork for the Priya’s Shakti series, a comic book series featuring augmented reality features and created in collaboration with filmmaker Ram Devineni. In Bengaluru for a workshop at the National Institute of Design, Dan talked about his foray into comics and the journey behind the Priya Shakthi project.
“I loved to draw and comics since I was a child. I worked on a comic book on the electronic voting machine fraud in 2006 and followed it up with a project that protested the war on terror. I have always been an activist and have attempted to bring issues I have strongly felt about into the limelight,” says Dan.
Talking about the Priya Shakthi project, Dan contends, “I met Ram in New York and agreed to collaborate with him. He used to send me the scripts and I would create the artwork correspondingly. I also researched a lot about India. I hope that this book sends out the message to young adults that it is not right to mistreat girls or throw acid at them.”
On the effect of the Internet on the comic book industry, he says, “It has bought a whole new audience and has made them interested in comic books. It is a new demographic and is a positive development for the comic book industry. I feel that print is still a very important medium, as it helps spread the message in remote areas that is yet to be connected to the online world.”
Dan said the right wing ascendancy across the world has meant that, “We should fight harder against divisive forces. We must leave behind a better world for our children and grandchildren.”
